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Randall Shirley
Heartbreak for the Love Boat
The original Love Boat: Pacific Princess. Photo: Wikimedia
According to MSNBC, the original Love Boat will be making a final run to the demolition yard. The ship once known as the Pacific Princess, and used as the backdrop for the TV series, is done.
This is a heartbreaker for me–and I’m betting for far more of you than ever admit it. The Pacific Princess’ weekly “another run” down the Pacific coast of Mexico was a welcome escape for me when I was a young gay boy growing up in one of the country’s most-conservative places. Each week Captain Stubing, Julie McCoy, Gopher, Doc, and Isaac: Your Bartender, took my young mind far away, into a world of dreams, possibilities, and romance in a way that no other show really could (Fantasy Island did it for a while, but then it got too hocus-pocus and Mr. Roarke seemed to have too many mystical powers).
The Love Boat ended its TV run in 1986, two years before I convinced my parents to take me on my first cruise. The ship we sailed was the Carla Costa, and little did I know that she may have played a role in the creation of the TV show: it has been written that early scripts for the Love Boat were written on board the Carla.
Each night I sent my parents to bed, then went out on the deck to watch the stars and the moonlight, dreaming of a passionate romance. At age 23, I wasn’t yet out of the closet, and hardly knew what it meant to have a man flirt with me, but in retrospect I realize I was likely flirted with the entire trip by a very handsome guy who was traveling with a group of friends. We took lots of walks together, went snorkeling together, hung out…if only he’d put a move on me!
Anyway, RIP original Pacific Princess. You will never be forgotten by this gay guy, nor, I suspect, by thousands and thousands of others who–likely partially because of you–now are frequent cruise passengers all around the globe.
Click here for the story on MSNBC, and to watch a video of the ship.
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Mark & Dale 1:50 pm on March 22, 2012 Permalink |
Our bit of history with the LOVE BOAT comes from a much different perspective.
In the mid-1990′s Mark and I had our Seattle condo on the market. This was in the day when a “bidding war” was not unusual in our neighborhood. Imagine our surprise when the buyer turned out to be Lauren Tewes, the actress who played “Julie the Cruise Director” on the series.
I had an awful (if convenient) case of bronchitis when it came to moving day, so Mark was left with most of the work. He asked me to take one last look in the bedroom to make sure we had everything. Apparently my inspection was a bit lax and/or fuzzy due to massive doses of antibiotics. As it turns out a few days later we got a call from Lauren who said “I’ll bet you two are fun guys….in the master bedroom closet I found a bag containing a feather boa. When can I return it?”
Randall 11:25 am on March 27, 2012 Permalink |
OMG–I would have LOVED that experience. Did you meet her??? She certainly did make me believe a cruise director could do no wrong.
John McRae 11:15 am on March 27, 2012 Permalink |
The Carla Costa was chartered to Princess Cruises in the late 60s and operated as the Princess Carla sailing the Mexican Riviera and perhaps also Alaska. This was prior to the line acquiring the Pacific Princess.
Randall 11:22 am on March 27, 2012 Permalink |
Aha! I love the interactivity of the web…how else would I ever have known that my first cruise was on predecessor to the Love Boat! Thanks, John.
Richard McBride 10:05 am on March 28, 2012 Permalink |
My long time friends and former Princess alumni colleagues are bemoaning this news!
When I was a lad in Vancouver, I was transfixed by the Love Boat – the theme song and pure glamourous, escapism had me from the get go. Summer in Vancouver would see the cruise ships sail by on their way to Alaska. As they slowly beckoned and teased, I would ponder ” what would it be like to work on a cruise ship……..?”
Flash forward….. career in musical theatre.. and auditions in Vancouver for Princess Cruises! A large group of Canucks ( I think the first) were hired to do the productions shows AND serve dual duty as Assistant Cruise Directors (with two and a half strips officer status). The youngest was 17.
In Los Angeles, we learned 4 hour long productions shows in 4 weeks and then off to the ships. The taller dancers were the “chosen ones” sent to the original Pacific Princess, while the shorties were banished to the tiny, old Dawn and the Fair. Never mind! It was one of the most challenging, rewarding experiences of my life; exhausting days of juggling the shows,ship-board activities , land tours, formal cocktail parties, dancing with the ladies -plus the officer responsibilities. All the while living on the ships 6-9 months at a time. Oh the love, lust, excitement & heartache!
I stayed with Princess traveling the world for 4 years and several different Princess ships. Only fond fond memories remain (oh the stories!) In the early/mid nineties cruising WAS different ( yes… more personal & glamourous) .
The original Canuck gang are now now planning a 20 year Princess reunion cruise. So it goes, a chapter closes with the extinction of the original Pacific Princess. LOVE… exciting and new!